Beyond the touring shows: Omaha’s homegrown holiday stages, from the Playhouse to St. Cecilia

The big touring productions get the billboards, but local companies fill most of the December calendar. Here is where Omaha’s own performers are this season, and when.

Start with an opera. Opera Omaha opens La bohème at the Orpheum on Friday, Nov. 13, at 7:30 p.m., with a second performance Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. It is sung in Italian with English supertitles and runs about two and a half hours.

The Playhouse doubles up. The Omaha Community Playhouse’s A Christmas Carol runs Nov. 20 through Dec. 20. Adult tickets start at $55. Sundays have both a 2 p.m. and a 6:30 p.m. performance. From Dec. 4 to 20, A Charlie Brown Christmas shares the building, a shorter show aimed at families with young kids.

The Symphony’s big week. The Omaha Symphony’s Christmas Celebration, with Broadway singers and dancers, plays the Holland Center Dec. 10 through 13, including matinees on Saturday and Sunday. On Dec. 19, the orchestra plays the score live under The Muppet Christmas Carol, at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

Brass in a cathedral. A Festival of Christmas Brass moves the Symphony’s brass players to St. Cecilia Cathedral on Thursday, Dec. 17, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 20, at 4 p.m. The Symphony does not allow children under 5 at this one.

Across the river. Chanticleer Theater stages Menotti’s short Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors at the Hoff Family Arts & Culture Center in Council Bluffs, Dec. 10 through 20. Evening shows are at 7:30, with 2 p.m. matinees on both Sundays.

Showtimes vary by date. Every listing on our calendar links to the company’s own page, where tickets are sold.